Power consumption control

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure includes apparatuses and methods for power consumption control. A number of embodiments include determining power consumption information for each phase in a combination of phases of a command, and authorizing execution of at least one of the phases in the combination based, at least partially, on the power consumption information determined for the at least one of the phases.

PRIORITY INFORMATION

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/625,104, filed Sep. 24, 2012, the specification of which isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to apparatuses, such assemiconductor memory devices, systems, and controllers, and relatedmethods, and more particularly, to power consumption control.

BACKGROUND

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor,integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There aremany different types of memory including volatile and non-volatilememory. Volatile memory can require power to maintain its information,e.g., data, and includes random-access memory (RAM), dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM),and static random access memory (SRAM) among others. Non-volatile memorycan provide persistent information by retaining stored information whennot powered and can include NAND flash memory, NOR flash memory, readonly memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM),Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), resistive random access memory(RRAM), and phase change random access memory (PCRAM), among others.

Memory devices can be combined together to form a solid state drive(SSD). A solid state drive can include non-volatile memory, e.g., NANDflash memory and NOR flash memory, and/or can include volatile memory,e.g., DRAM and SRAM, among various other types of non-volatile andvolatile memory. Flash memory devices, including floating gate flashdevices and charge trap flash (CTF) devices usingsemiconductor-oxide-nitride-oxide-semiconductor andmetal-oxide-nitride-oxide-semiconductor capacitor structures that storeinformation in charge traps in the nitride layer, may be utilized asnon-volatile memory for a wide range of electronic applications. Flashmemory devices typically use a one-transistor memory cell that allowsfor high memory densities, high reliability, and low power consumption.

An SSD can be used to replace hard disk drives as the main storagedevice for a computing system, as the solid state drive can haveadvantages over hard drives in terms of performance, size, weight,ruggedness, operating temperature range, and power consumption. Forexample, SSDs can have superior performance when compared to magneticdisk drives due to their lack of moving parts, which may avoid seektime, latency, and other electro-mechanical delays associated withmagnetic disk drives. SSD manufacturers can use non-volatile flashmemory to create flash SSDs that may not use an internal battery supply,thus allowing the drive to be more versatile and compact.

An SSD can include a number of memory devices, e.g., a number of memorychips. As one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, a memorychip can include a number of dies and/or logical units (LUNs), e.g.,where a LUN can be one or more die. Each die can include a number ofmemory arrays and peripheral circuitry thereon. The memory arrays caninclude a number of memory cells organized into a number of physicalpages, and the physical pages can be organized into a number of blocks.An array of flash memory cells can be programmed a page at a time anderased a block at a time. Controlling power consumption of operations,e.g., read, write, and erase, performed on an SSD can provide benefitssuch as conserving battery power, among other benefits.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus in the form of a memory systemin accordance with a number of embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a channel controller of a memory system in accordancewith a number of embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a number of commands comprising a number of phases inaccordance with a number of embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure includes apparatuses and methods for powerconsumption control. A number of embodiments include determining powerconsumption information for each phase in a combination of phases of acommand, and authorizing execution of at least one of the phases in thecombination based, at least partially, on the power consumptioninformation determined for the at least one of the phases.

In a number of embodiments, executing a command can include execution ofa number of phases, e.g., execution phases. Example execution phasesinclude a data transfer phase, an array program phase, and an arraysense phase, for instance. Various combinations of execution phases canbe executed to execute commands on a memory system. Each phase of thenumber of phases can consume an amount of power during execution and canbe assigned an amount of power credits that designate the amount ofpower consumed by the phase upon execution. In a number of embodiments,a command can be comprised of a combination of a number of phases, e.g.,a number data transfer phases and an array program phase. Each of thenumber of phases can be assigned a particular amount of power credits.As an example, a data transfer phase can be assigned 10 power credits,an array program phase can be assigned 4 power credits, and an arraysense phase can be assigned 2. However, embodiments are not limited tothis example.

In a number of embodiments, power consumption information, which caninclude an amount of power credits assigned to each phase, can be storedin a data structure, e.g., look-up table, on a controller, for instance.A number of combinations of phases can be executed, e.g., performed, toexecute commands, such as read, write, and/or erase commands, forexample, on a memory system. The controller can receive a command andseparate the command into a combination of phases. The controller canlocate power consumption information for the number of phases in thedata structure, e.g., look-up table, and the power consumptioninformation can be used by a memory system to regulate power consumptionof the memory system when executing the number of phases.

In the following detailed description of the present disclosure,reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof,and in which is shown by way of illustration how a number of embodimentsof the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described insufficient detail to enable those of ordinary skill in the art topractice the embodiments of this disclosure, and it is to be understoodthat other embodiments may be utilized and that process, electrical,and/or structural changes may be made without departing from the scopeof the present disclosure. As used herein, “a number of” something canrefer to one or more of such things. For example, a number of memorydevices can refer to one or more memory devices. As used herein, thedesignator “N”, particularly with respect to reference numerals in thedrawings, indicates that a number of the particular feature sodesignated can be included with a number of embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

The figures herein follow a numbering convention in which the firstdigit or digits correspond to the drawing figure number and theremaining digits identify an element or component in the drawing.Similar elements or components between different figures may beidentified by the use of similar digits. For example, 130 may referenceelement “30” in FIG. 1, and a similar element may be referenced as 230in FIG. 2. As will be appreciated, elements shown in the variousembodiments herein can be added, exchanged, and/or eliminated so as toprovide a number of additional embodiments of the present disclosure. Inaddition, as will be appreciated, the proportion and the relative scaleof the elements provided in the figures are intended to illustrate theembodiments of the present invention, and should not be taken in alimiting sense.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus in the form of a memory system104 in accordance with a number of embodiments of the presentdisclosure. As used herein, a memory system 104, a controller 108, or amemory device 110 might also be separately considered an “apparatus.”The memory system 104 can be used as an external, e.g., portable, memorysystem for a computing system. The memory system 104, e.g., a solidstate drive (SSD), can include controller 108 coupled to memory, e.g., anumber of solid state memory devices 110-1, . . . , 110-N. The solidstate memory devices 110-1, . . . , 110-N can provide a storage volumefor the memory system 104. In a number of embodiments, the number ofmemory devices 110-1, . . . , 110-N can include non-volatile memoryincluding a number of logical units (LUNs). A LUN can be a portion ofnon-volatile memory that can be independently controllable. Also, thecontroller can include volatile and/or non-volatile memory.

A solid state memory device 110-1, . . . , 110-N can include a number ofarrays of memory cells, e.g., non-volatile memory cells. The arrays canbe flash arrays with a NAND architecture, for example. In a NANDarchitecture, the control gates of memory cells of a “row” can becoupled with an access, e.g., word, line, while the memory cells can becoupled in series source to drain in a “string” between a select gatesource transistor and a select gate drain transistor. The string can beconnected to a data, e.g., bit, line by the select gate draintransistor. The use of the terms “row” and “string” implies neither alinear nor an orthogonal arrangement of memory cells. As will beappreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the manner ofconnection of the memory cells to the bit lines and source lines dependson whether the array is a NAND architecture, a NOR architecture, or someother memory array architecture.

The solid state memory devices 110-1, . . . , 110-N can include a numberof memory cells that can be grouped. As used herein, a group can includea number of memory cells, such as a page, block, plane, die, an entirearray, or other groups of memory cells. For example, some memory arrayscan include a number of pages of memory cells that make up a block ofmemory cells. A number of blocks can be included in a plane of memorycells. A number of planes of memory cells can be included on a die. Asan example, a 128 GB memory device can store 4320 bytes of informationper page, 128 pages per block, 2048 blocks per plane, and 16 planes perdevice.

In FIG. 1, channel 1 memory 110-1 can include a number of dies of memorycells that are coupled to the memory system 104 via channel 1 andchannel N memory 110-N can include a number of dies of memory cells thatare coupled to the memory system 104 via channel N. Channel 1 memory110-1 can be associated with channel controller 130-1 and channel Nmemory 110-N can be associated with channel controller 130-N on controlcircuitry 124. In a number of embodiments, each channel associated witha solid state memory device, such as solid state memory devices 110-1, .. . , 110-N in FIG. 1, can be associated with a channel controller. Thechannel controller can be used to execute a number of phases of thecommands received at each channel.

The controller 108 can include host interface (I/F) 114, host-memorytranslation circuitry 116, memory management circuitry 118, a switch120, and/or control circuitry 124. As described herein, portions ofcontroller 108 can be provided in the form of an ASIC, however,embodiments are not so limited.

The controller 108 can communicate with the solid state memory devices110-1, . . . , 110-N to read, write, and erase information, among otheroperations. The controller 108 can have firmware and/or circuitry thatmay be a number of integrated circuits and/or discrete components. For anumber of embodiments, the circuitry in controller 108 may includecontrol circuitry 124 for controlling access across the solid statememory devices 110-1, . . . , 110-N and circuitry for providing atranslation layer between a host and the memory system 104. Thus, acontroller could selectively couple an I/O connection (not shown inFIG. 1) of a solid state memory device 110-1, . . . , 110-N to receivethe appropriate signal at the appropriate I/O connection at theappropriate time. Similarly, the communication protocol between a hostand the memory system 104 may be different than what is required foraccess of a solid state memory device 110-1, . . . , 110-N. Controller108 could then translate the commands received from a host into theappropriate commands to achieve the desired access to a solid statememory device 110-1, . . . , 110-N.

The host I/F 114 can include a physical interface to couple the memorysystem 104 to a host. The host I/F 114 can include a peripheralcomponent interconnect express (PCIe) circuit providing a physicallayer, link layer, and transport or transaction layer interface, e.g.,where the host is configured to transmit information according to a PCIestandard. In a number of embodiments, the host I/F 114 can be coupled tohost-memory translation circuitry 116.

In general, the host I/F 114 can include circuitry that is responsiblefor converting command packets received from the host, e.g., from a PCIebus, into command instructions for the host-memory translation circuitry116 and for converting host-memory translation responses into hostcommands for transmission to the requesting host. For example, the hostI/F 114 can construct SATA command packets from PCIe based transactionlayer packets.

The host-memory translation circuitry 116 can be coupled to the host I/F114, to the memory management circuitry 118, and/or to the switch 120.The host-memory translation circuitry 116 can be configured to translatehost addresses to memory addresses, e.g., addresses associated with areceived command such as a read and/or write command. The host-memorytranslation circuitry 116 can include error detection/correctioncircuitry, such as RAID exclusive or (XOR) circuitry. The RAID XORcircuitry can calculate parity information based on information receivedfrom the host I/F 114.

The memory management circuitry 118 can be coupled to the host-memorytranslation circuitry 116 and/or to the switch 120. The memorymanagement circuitry 118 can control a number of processes including,but not limited to, initialization, wear leveling, e.g., garbagecollection and/or block reclamation, and error correction, e.g., viaoperation of a processor.

Control circuitry 124 includes power control manager 126, processor 128,and channel controllers 130-1, . . . , 130-N. The control circuitry 124,e.g., non-volatile memory control circuitry, can be coupled to theswitch 120 and to a number of non-volatile memory devices 110. In someembodiments, the controller 108 can include control circuitry, such aschannel controllers 130-1, . . . 130-N, for all memory channels. Controlcircuitry 124 can include processor 128 to execute instructions, e.g.,software and/or firmware, according to a number of embodiments of thepresent disclosure. While the control circuitry 124 can include aprocessor 128, a number of embodiments of the present disclosure providefor control of memory operations in circuitry, e.g., hardware, withoutrelying on the execution of instructions, e.g., software and/orfirmware, by the processor 128. Such embodiments can provide for fastermemory operations relative to some previous approaches that rely moreheavily on a processor to control memory operations.

The control circuitry 124 can receive commands, such as read, write,and/or erase commands, from a host, e.g., via host I/F 114, and/orcommands from memory management circuitry 118, e.g., in association withwear leveling operations. The commands received by the control circuitry124 can be separated into a number of combinations of a number of phasesby the processor 128 and/or hardware on the control circuitry 124. Thecombination of phases for each of the commands received by the controlcircuitry can be assigned to a memory device for execution, such asmemory device 110-1 or 110-N. The channel controller 130 associated withthe memory devices that are assigned the combination of phases for thecommands, such as channel controller 130-1 associated with memory device110-1 or channel controller 130-N associated with memory device 110-N,can be used for execution of the combinations of phases corresponding tothe respective commands. The channel controllers can include a number ofLUN controllers, that are associated with each LUN on a channel, toexecute the combinations of phases corresponding to the commands. Powerconsumption information for the phases corresponding to the commands canbe stored in a data structure, e.g., look-up table 140, on the channelcontroller 130, for instance, and can be used by a power control manager126 in association with authorizing execution of the phases. The powerconsumption information for the phases stored in the data structure canbe programmable. The power consumption information can be programmed inthe data structure based on the clock speed of the apparatus, the typeof bus of the apparatus, and/or the type of memory devices of theapparatus, for instance.

The channel controller 130 can request permission from the power controlmanager 126 to execute a number of phases corresponding to a command.The channel controller can send power consumption information found indata structure 140 in the requests for authorization to execute thephases. The power control manager 126 can authorize execution of thenumber of phases associated with the requests from the channelcontroller 130. The authorization to execute the number of phases can bebased on an analysis of the power consumption information of the numberof phases. The power consumption information can include an amount ofpower credits of each of the phases. The number of power credits cancorrespond to an amount of power consumed upon execution of the phase.Power control manager 126 can manage power consumption by authorizing,e.g. granting, execution of a number of phases when the sum of the powercredits for the number of phases is less than or equal to a thresholdamount of power credits for the memory system. For example, a memorysystem can have a threshold power credit amount of 250 power credits. Inthis example, the memory system will be consuming a desired averageamount of power when phases having a sum of 250 power credits are beingexecuted at any given time. The power control manager 126 can authorizeexecution of a combination of phases whose sum of power credits is lessthan or equal 250 power credits. As execution of authorized phases iscompleted by the memory system, the power control manager can grantexecution for additional phases to maintain the amount of authorizedpower credits at or below the threshold of 250 power credits.

In a number of embodiments, if a number of power credits are authorized,but not used during the execution of a phase, the power control managercan authorize an amount of additional power credits above a threshold,such as 250 power credits, for example, that is equal to the number ofpower credits that were authorized, but not used during the execution ofa phase. The authorization of additional power credits can account forthe number of power credits that were authorized, but not used duringthe execution of a phase by temporarily authorizing an amount of powercredits for execution that is above a threshold, which can help tomaintain a desired average power consumption by the memory system.

In a number of embodiments, the power control manager can analyzerequests for authorization to execute phases in the order that they arereceived by the power control manager. The power control manager cananalyze the amount of power credits associated with a request andauthorize execution of a phase if the authorization does not cause thetotal number of authorized power credits to be greater than a threshold.If authorization of a request would cause the total number of authorizedpower credits to be greater than the threshold, the request can be puton hold and the next request received by the power control manager canbe analyzed for authorization. The requests that are put on hold can bereanalyzed for authorization after execution of a number of authorizedcommands has completed, thus increasing the amount of power creditsavailable for authorization.

For example, consider a power control manager that has authorized 25data transfer phases for execution each having 10 power creditscorresponding thereto. If two of the data transfer phases only used 5power credits each during execution of the phases, there are 10 powercredits that were authorized for use, but not used during the executionof the 25 authorized phases. The power control manager can authorize anadditional 10 power credits above the threshold to compensate for the 10power credits that were authorized for use, but not used during theexecution of the 25 authorized phases. Therefore, the power controlmanager can authorize 260 power credits for execution temporarily tocompensate for the 10 power credits that were authorized, but not usedduring the execution of the 25 phases previously authorized. Thetemporary authorization of an amount of power credits above a thresholdcan help maintain power consumption to a desired average powerconsumption, which is associated with the threshold, such as 250 powercredits for example.

In a number of embodiments, for example, consider a power controlmanager that has authorized 24 data transfer phases for execution eachhaving 10 power credits corresponding thereto. If the next phase to beanalyzed by the power control manager has 15 power credits correspondingthereto, which would cause the total number of authorized power creditsto be above a threshold of 250 power credits, the phase is placed onhold. The phase having 15 power credits corresponding thereto is placedon hold until a number of 24 data transfer phases that have receivedauthorization are executed, then the phase having 15 power creditscorresponding thereto on hold is reanalyzed to determine if there aresufficient power credits available to authorize the phase having 15power credits corresponding thereto. If there are insufficient powercredits available to authorize the phase having 15 power creditscorresponding thereto, the phase is placed on hold again.

The memory system 104 illustrated in FIG. 1 can include additionalcircuitry beyond what is illustrated. The detail of the memory system104 illustrated in FIG. 1 has been reduced so as not to obscureembodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the memory system104 can include address circuitry to latch address signals provided overI/O connections through I/O circuitry. Address signals can be receivedand decoded by a row decoder and a column decoder to access the solidstate memory devices 110-1, . . . , 110-N. It will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that the number of address input connectionscan depend on the density and architecture of the solid state memorydevices 110-1, . . . , 110-N.

FIG. 2 illustrates a channel controller 230 of a memory system inaccordance with a number of embodiments of the present disclosure.Channel controller 230 can be associated with a channel that couples thechannel controller 230 to memory devices, such as memory devices 110-1,. . . , 110-N in FIG. 1.

In a number of embodiments, channel controller 230 can receive a commandcomprising a number of phases for execution. The channel controller 230can execute the number of phases by locating power consumptioninformation for the number of phases in a data structure, e.g., look-uptable 240, which can be stored in memory on the channel controller 230,for instance. The look-up table 240 can include power consumptioninformation for each of the number of phases corresponding to a command.Each command can be comprised of a combination of the phases stored inlook-up table 240.

The channel controller 230 can send a request to a power controlmanager, e.g., power control manager 126 shown in FIG. 1, forauthorization to execute the number of phases corresponding to thecommands received at channel controller 230. The request can include thepower consumption information, e.g., power credits, for each of thenumber of phases. Upon receiving authorization from the power controlmanager to execute the number of phases, the channel controller 230 canexecute the phases and send a notification to the power control managerwhen the phases have been executed so the power control manager canauthorize additional phases for execution.

The data structure in channel controller 230 can be a look-up table 240,and includes information that identifies a number of phases 242 andpower consumption information 244 for the number of phases. The powerconsumption information can include an amount of power credits,associated with performing a particular phase. Look-up table 240 canidentify a number of phases 242 that correspond to a number of commandsthat can be performed by a memory system. For example, execution of acommand can comprise execution of a number of phases each of which areexecuted to complete the execution of the command. Look-up table 240 caninclude power consumption information for each of the phases 242corresponding to a number of particular commands executable by a memorysystem.

In FIG. 2, look-up table 240 includes power consumption information fora data transfer phase 246, an array program phase 248, and an arraysense phase 250. In this example, data transfer phase 246 is assigned 10power credits, array program phase 248 is assigned 4 power credits, andarray sense phase is assigned 2 power credits. The amount of powercredits can indicate the amount of power consumed during execution ofthe particular phase. For example, a data transfer phase having 10 powercredits assigned thereto can indicate that more power is consumed duringexecution of the data transfer phase than during execution of an arraysense phase having 2 power credits assigned thereto. The powerconsumption information 246 provided in look-up table 240 can includeinformation that identifies the amount, e.g., whether actual orrelative, of power consumed in association with executing a phase of acommand.

In a number of embodiments, a channel controller 230 can receive acommand that is separated into a number of phases. The channelcontroller 230 can locate power consumption information for the numberof phases of the command in the look-up table 240. For example, aparticular command may be comprised of a data transfer phase 246 and anarray program phase 248. The channel controller 230 can determine thatdata transfer phase 246 has 10 power credits assigned thereto and arrayprogram phase 248 has 4 power credits assigned thereto. The channelcontroller 230 can send a number of requests to execute data transferphase 246 and/or array program phase 248 to a power control manager,such as power control manager 126 in FIG. 1, and the number of requestscan include the power consumption information for data transfer phase246 and/or array program phase 248. The power control manager canperform an analysis of the number of requests it receives taking intoconsideration the power consumption information for the phases that havebeen requested. Based on the analysis of the requests, the power controlmanager can authorize, e.g., grant, the request of the channelcontroller to perform data transfer phase 246 and/or array program phase248. The channel controller 230 can then execute the command byexecuting data transfer phase 246 and/or array program phase 248.

FIG. 3 illustrates a number of commands comprised of a number of phasesin accordance with a number of embodiments of the present disclosure. InFIG. 3, a number of write commands and a number of read commands areillustrated. Write and read commands can be comprised of combinations ofdata transfer (DT) phases, array program (AP) phases, and/or array sense(AS) phases, for instance.

In FIG. 3, single plane write command 352-1 is comprised of datatransfer phase 346-1 (DT-1), in which data is transferred to a firstplane, and an array program phase 348-1 (AP-1), in which data is writtento the first plane. Dual plane write command 352-2 is comprised of datatransfer phases 346-1 (DT-1) and 346-2 (DT-2), in which data istransferred to a first and a second plane, and array program phase 348-1(AP-1), in which data is written to the first and second planes. Quadplane write command 352-3 is comprised of data transfer phases 346-1(DT-1), 346-2 (DT-2), 346-3 (DT-3), 346-4 (DT-4), in which data istransferred to a first, a second, a third, and a fourth plane, and anarray program phase, 348-1 (AP-1), in which data is written to thefirst, second, third, and fourth planes. Octal plane write command 352-4is comprised of data transfer phases 346-1 (DT-1), 346-2 (DT-2), 346-3(DT-3), 346-4 (DT-4), . . . , 346-8 (DT-8), in which data is transferredto a first, a second, a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh,and an eighth plane and an array program phase, AP-1 (348-1), in whichdata is written to the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth,seventh, and eighth planes.

In FIG. 3, single plane read command 354-1 is comprised of array sensephase 350-1 (AS-1), in which data is read from a first plane, and datatransfer phase 346-1 (DT-1), in which data is transferred from the firstplane. Dual plane read command 354-2 is comprised of array sense phase350-1 (AS-1), in which data is read from a first and a second plane, anddata transfer phases 346-1 (DT-1) and 346-2 (DT-2), in which data istransferred from the first and second planes. Quad plane read command354-3 is comprised of array sense phase 350-1 (AS-1), in which data isread from a first, a second, a third, and a fourth plane, and datatransfer phases 346-1 (DT-1), 346-2 (DT-2), 346-3 (DT-3), 346-4 (DT-4),in which data is transferred from the first, second, third, and fourthplanes. Octal plane read command 354-4 is comprised array sense phase350-1 (AS-1), in which data is read from a first, a second, a third, afourth, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh, and an eighth plane, and datatransfer phases 346-1 (DT-1), 346-2 (DT-2), 346-3 (DT-3), 346-4 (DT-4),. . . , 346-8 (DT-8), in which data is transferred from the first,second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth planes.

In a number of embodiments, a controller can receive a command, such asquad plane write command 352-3, and separate the command 352-3 intophases, e.g., data transfer phases 346-1, 346-2, 346-3, and 346-4, andarray program phase 348-1, as indicated in FIG. 3. The phases 346-1,346-2, 346-3, 346-4, and 348-1 for quad plane write command 352-3 can beassigned to a channel controller, such as channel controller 130-1 inFIG. 1, for execution on the associated channel. The channel controllercan locate power consumption information for each of the phases 346-1,346-2, 346-3, 346-4, and 348-1 of command 352-2 in a data structure,such as look-up table 140 in FIG. 1 to determine that phases 346-1,346-2, 346-3, and 346-4 each have 10 power credits assigned thereto andphase 348-1 has 4 power credits assigned thereto. The channel controllercan send requests to a power control manager for authorization toexecute phases 346-1, 346-2, 346-3, 346-4, and 348-1 of command 352-2.The requests can include a request for 10 power credits to execute phase346-1, a request for 10 power credits to execute phase 346-2, a requestfor 10 power credits to execute phase 346-3, a request for 10 powercredits to execute phase 346-4, and a request for 4 power credits toexecute phase 348-1.

In a number of embodiments, the power control manager can analyze therequests in the order that they are received by the power controlmanager. The power control manager can analyze the request associatedwith phase 346-1 to determine if authorization of the 10 power creditsrequested for execution of phase 346-1 causes the total number ofauthorized power credits to be greater than a threshold. If theauthorization of the 10 power credits requested for execution of phase346-1 does not cause the total number of authorized power credits to begreater than a threshold, phase 346-1 can be authorized for execution bythe power control manager. If the authorization of the 10 power creditsrequested for execution of phase 346-1 causes the total number ofauthorized power credits to be greater than a threshold, phase 346-1 canbe placed on hold and reanalyzed for authorization after execution of anumber of authorized phases has completed, thus increasing the amount ofpower credits available for authorization.

The power control manager can also analyze the request associated withphase 346-2 to determine if authorization of the 10 power creditsrequested for execution of phase 346-2 causes the total number ofauthorized power credits to be greater than the threshold. If theauthorization of the 10 power credits requested for execution of phase346-2 does not cause the total number of authorized power credits to begreater than a threshold, phase 346-2 can be authorized for execution bythe power control manager. If the authorization of the 10 power creditsrequested for execution of phase 346-2 causes the total number ofauthorized power credits to be greater than the threshold, phase 346-2can be placed on hold and reanalyzed for authorization after executionof a number of authorized phases have completed, thus increasing theamount of power credits available for authorization.

The power control manager will analyze the request associated with phase346-3 to determine if authorization of the 10 power credits requestedfor execution of phase 346-3 causes the total number of authorized powercredits to be greater than the threshold. If the authorization of the 10power credits requested for execution of phase 346-3 does not cause thetotal number of authorized power credits to be greater than thethreshold, phase 346-3 can be authorized for execution by the powercontrol manager. If the authorization of the 10 power credits requestedfor execution of phase 346-3 causes the total number of authorized powercredits to be greater than the threshold, phase 346-3 can be placed onhold and reanalyzed for authorization after execution of a number ofauthorized phases have completed, thus increasing the amount of powercredits available for authorization.

The power control manager can also analyze the request associated withphase 346-4 to determine if authorization of the 10 power creditsrequested for execution of phase 346-4 causes the total number ofauthorized power credits to be greater than the threshold. If theauthorization of the 10 power credits requested for execution of phase346-4 does not cause the total number of authorized power credits to begreater than a threshold, phase 346-4 can be authorized for execution bythe power control manager. If the authorization of the 10 power creditsrequested for execution of phase 346-4 causes the total number ofauthorized power credits to be greater than a threshold, phase 346-4 canbe placed on hold and reanalyzed for authorization after execution of anumber of authorized phases have completed, thus increasing the amountof power credits available for authorization.

The power control manager can also analyze the request associated withphase 348-1 to determine if authorization of the 4 power creditsrequested for execution of phase 348-1 causes the total number ofauthorized power credits to be greater than the threshold. If theauthorization of the 4 power credits requested for execution of phase348-1 does not cause the total number of authorized power credits to begreater than a threshold, phase 348-1 can be authorized for execution bythe power control manager. If the authorization of the 4 power creditsrequested for execution of phase 348-1 causes the total number ofauthorized power credits to be greater than the threshold, phase 348-1can be placed on hold and reanalyzed for authorization after executionof a number of authorized phases have completed, thus increasing theamount of power credits available for authorization.

CONCLUSION

The present disclosure includes apparatuses and methods for powerconsumption control. A number of embodiments include determining powerconsumption information for each phase in a combination of phases of acommand, and authorizing execution of at least one of the phases in thecombination based, at least partially, on the power consumptioninformation determined for the at least one of the phases.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on,”“connected to” or “coupled with” another element, it can be directly on,connected, or coupled with the other element or intervening elements maybe present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being“directly on,” “directly connected to” or “directly coupled with”another element, there are no intervening elements or layers present. Asused herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of anumber of the associated listed items.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that anarrangement calculated to achieve the same results can be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coveradaptations or variations of a number of embodiments of the presentdisclosure. It is to be understood that the above description has beenmade in an illustrative fashion, and not a restrictive one. Combinationof the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specificallydescribed herein will be apparent to those of skill in the art uponreviewing the above description. The scope of the number of embodimentsof the present disclosure includes other applications in which the abovestructures and methods are used. Therefore, the scope of a number ofembodiments of the present disclosure should be determined withreference to the appended claims, along with the full range ofequivalents to which such claims are entitled.

In the foregoing Detailed Description, some features are groupedtogether in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining thedisclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the disclosed embodiments of the presentdisclosure have to use more features than are expressly recited in eachclaim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matterlies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus,the following claims are hereby incorporated into the DetailedDescription, with each claim standing on its own as a separateembodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling power consumption in anapparatus, comprising: determining power consumption information foreach phase of a number of phases that are part of a combination ofphases of a command; and authorizing execution of at least one of thenumber of phases in the combination such that an amount of powerconsumed by the least one of the number of phases, as indicated by thedetermined power consumption information, does not exceed an amount ofpower available to execute the number of the phases.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, including authorizing execution of the at least one of thenumber of phases, such that an average power consumption is maintained.3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining power consumptioninformation includes determining power consumption information for anarray program phase.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining powerconsumption information includes determining power consumptioninformation for an array sense phase.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinauthorizing execution of at least one of the number of phases includesauthorizing execution of at least one of the number of phases based onan amount of previously authorized, but unused power credits.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein authorizing execution of at least one of thenumber of phases includes authorizing execution of phases in thecombination whose sum of associated power credits is less than or equalto a threshold amount of power credits available for authorization. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein authorizing execution of at least one ofthe number of phases includes authorizing execution of phases of thecombination whose sum of associated power credits is greater than athreshold amount of power credits available for authorization tocompensate for a number of power credits that were authorized for use,but not used to execute a previously authorized phase.
 8. A method forcontrolling power consumption in an apparatus, comprising: receiving acommand to perform an operation on the apparatus, wherein the command isseparable into a combination of phases; sending a number of requests toa power control manager for authorization to execute the combination ofphases, wherein each of the number of requests is associated with arespective phase of the combination of phases; and receiving a number ofresponses to the number of requests, wherein the number of responsesauthorize execution of at least one phase of the combination of phasessuch that an amount of power consumed by the at least one phase of thecombination of phases, as indicated by power consumption information foreach phase of the combination of phases, does not exceed an amount ofpower available to execute the combination of phases, and wherein eachof the number of responses is associated with a respective phase of thecombination of phases.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the methodincludes retrieving the power consumption information from a datastructure.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein sending the number ofrequests to the power control manager for authorization to execute thecombination of phases includes sending the phase power consumptioninformation in the number of requests.
 11. The method of claim 8,wherein receiving the number of responses includes receivingauthorization to execute the at least one phase of the combination ofphases responsive to a determination that a sum of power creditscorresponding to a number of phases that includes the at least one phaseof the combination of phases is greater than a threshold amount of powercredits if a number of power credits that were previously authorized foruse have not been used.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving thenumber of responses includes receiving authorization to execute the atleast one phase of the combination of phases responsive to adetermination that a sum of power credits corresponding to the at leastone phase of the combination of the number of phases is less than orequal to a threshold amount of power credits.
 13. The method of claim 8,wherein the combination of phases includes a data transfer phase, anarray program phase, and/or an array sense phase.
 14. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the method includes separating the command into thecombination of phases via a controller.
 15. An apparatus, comprising: anarray of memory cells; and a controller coupled to the array andconfigured to: receive a command to perform an operation on theapparatus, wherein the command comprises a combination of a number ofphases; and authorize execution of a portion of the number of phasessuch that an amount power consumed by the portion of the number ofphases does not exceed an amount of power available to execute thenumber of the phases.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein thecontroller is configured to place at least one of the phases on holdbased on the amount of power available to execute the number of thephases.
 17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the controller isconfigured to authorize execution of the at least one of the phasesplaced on hold after at least some of the portion of the number of thephases have been executed.
 18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein thecontroller is configured to authorize execution of the number of thephases to maintain a desired average power consumption.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 15, wherein the command comprises a write commandhaving a number of data transfer phases and an array program phase. 20.The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the command comprises a read commandhaving an array sense phase and a number of data transfer phases.